The invention relates generally to vision occluding devices, such as eye shields or blinders, which are worn on a person's head and are to used to block out or reduce a portion of the normal field of vision. More particularly, the invention relates to such devices which are primarily concerned with occluding peripheral vision. Even more particularly, the invention is related to such devices which also occlude all of the peripheral field of vision and most or all of the superior field of vision while allowing for unobstructed vision over all or most of the inferior field of vision.
Many persons suffer from nausea or queasiness while riding as passengers in a moving vehicle, a condition often referred to as motion or car sickness. Motion sickness is usually intensified when the passenger attempts to read or concentrate on objects within the interior of the vehicle, and it has been estimated that up to 40 percent of passengers who read in a moving vehicle experience some degree of discomfort. Motion sickness is primarily caused by the mixed messages being sent to the brain from the sensory system--the body seems to be at rest yet the inner ear detects some forward motion and objects pass by in the peripheral field of vision. Treatment includes the use of drugs such as Bonine or Dramamine, herbal remedies or acupressure devices, all of dubious efficacy. The typical recommendation is to focus out the front window while turning away from or shielding the vision to the side windows coupled with an admonishment not to read. Researchers theorize that blocking out one of the conflicting sensory messages will greatly reduce the likelihood of motion sickness. Since the actual body motion is restrained due to the confinement of the passenger compartment and since the actual forward motion sensed by the inner ear will be present as long as the vehicle is in motion, it is the visual sensory problem that must be addressed.
Various occluding devices are known, although none of the prior known devices are fully suitable for solving the problem of passenger motion sickness. Some devices are translucent, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,859,047 to Badewitz, U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,119 to Taupin, U.S. Pat. No. 4,698,022 to Gilson, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,470,673 to Gilson et al., and are mainly directed at reducing glare from incidental or ambient lighting and from the headlights of approaching vehicles, or to simulate varying degrees of visibility in flight training. Other devices are opaque and block out all light transmission and vision through the opaque sections, such as sown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,577,566 to Kislin, U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,224 to Terrasi and U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,534 to Gill--the first two patents having lower edges of specific shape in order to match the configuration of an aircraft instrument panel cowl for training purposes and the latter patent showing an awkward rectilinear configuration having forward telescoping segments to define an elongated tunnel. None of these configurations are suitable for solving the problems of passenger vehicle motion sickness.
It is an object of this invention to provide a vision occluding device or eye shield which solves the visual sensory problem when a passenger is riding in a vehicle, and which is especially useful when the passenger desires to read, write or perform another focused activity in the vehicle, where the device completely occludes the peripheral field of vision such that the wearer is not visually aware of the blurred objects passing through the peripheral field of vision. The device allows the wearer to view objects in the forward field of vision but blocks out all or a significant portion of the superior field of vision above the mid sight line, thereby allowing the wearer to have an unobstructed view of all or most of the inferior field of vision for reading while blocking normal sight lines through the side and forward windows of the vehicle. It is a further object to provide such a device which is physically comfortable for the wearer and which minimizes psychological discomfort or what may be called the blinder effect. These and other objects will be clear from the more detailed disclosure below.